ASCE News

Kiremidjian Elected to the Grade of Distinguished Member

Anne Setian Kiremidjian, Ph.D., Dist.M.ASCE, is honored for her eminence in the field of probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA), for educating the next generation of earthquake engineers, and for her leadership promoting women engineers. Professor of civil and environmental engineering at Stanford University, Kiremidjian has continued and extended the original work of C. Allin Cornell and Jack Benjamin, who were the first researchers to apply probabilistic methods to earthquake hazard assessment. A central figure in the evolution of this field, Kiremidjian served as director of the Blume Center for Earthquake Engineering at Stanford University from 1997 to 2002, which is recognized as one of the world’s most prestigious institutions in earthquake engineering. Considered to have pioneered wireless structural-health-monitoring development, she is the holder of 4 U.S. patents for innovations in wireless sensor development and damage detection algorithms. In addition, Kiremidjian developed the first probabilistic seismic hazard (PSH) map of California and subsequently developed the first time-and-space-dependent earthquake occurrence models. The PSH maps she developed for Nicaragua, Honduras, El Salvador, and Guatemala were incorporated into their respective seismic codes. An advocate for international collaboration through joint research studies and trilateral meetings, she was involved in the organization of many of the early China-Japan-U.S. Trilateral Symposiums on Lifeline Earthquake Engineering in the mid-1990s, which continues today. Kiremidjian achieved eminence not only as a researcher, but also as an entrepreneur as she has founded several companies related to seismic risk modeling and structural health monitoring. However, much of Kiremidjian’s career has been dedicated to educating undergraduate and graduate students with special emphasis on promoting women in the field. She has shown students that civil engineering is a dynamic profession, one that has opportunities for innovators, and she participates regularly in speaker panels on college campuses, helping students interested in civil engineering entrepreneurship. A recipient of many prestigious awards, Kiremidjian has received ASCE’s C. Martin Duke Lifeline Earthquake Engineering Award, the National Science Foundation’s Faculty Award for Women, and the Applied Technology Council Award for Excellence in Loss Estimation.